Archives

Protocols are drafted by irrigation experts, then opened for public comment for 90 days. Comments are reviewed and considered. Where appropriate, changes are made to the testing protocol and made available again for public comment. Major changes are open for comment for 90 days and minor changes for 30 days. Most protocols go through several cycles of public review and revision before being adopted for third-party testing. Draft testing protocols for each product category are archived and publicly available here:

Review Draft 7: Test Protocol

Proposed Change to Draft 7: Test Protocol,Oct 2007 - The change was not approved; it will be reviewed during the 2008 protocol review process. Comments for the proposed change to section 4.6 of draft 7 (originally posted Nov. 2006) are closed. The proposed change, noted here in bold italics, modifies the third sentence to read "Valid performance data is then downloaded from a minimum 30 consecutive day period of testing and exhibiting a minimum of 0.40 in. of gross rainfall and a minimum of 2.50 in. of ETo."
7th Draft Public Comments Section 4.6 (PDF 1MB)

Archives - Add-on Devices

Draft 3: Recommendations

The final draft, submitted to the EPA, and summary review for the second draft are below.

The subject of add-on devices and how many controllers with which they would need to be tested arose at the SWAT meeting held at the Irrigation Show, November 4, 2008. SWAT was directed by the attendees to develop recommendations for testing add-on devices that can work with new or existing systems.

Important: This is not part of nor will it be part of the protocols for climatologically- or soil moisture sensor-based controllers. It is a suggested position for EPA consideration.

Notes: Soil Moisture Sensor Meeting, Jan. 15, 2008, CIT, Fresno, Calif. Representatives from 12 soil moisture sensor manufacturers met together with water provider representatives, SWAT committee representatives and IA staff. The goal was to jointly advance the development of the proposed draft protocols for testing of individual sensors and how effectively they control irrigation events.

Phase 1, Draft 5 and Phase 2, Draft 2: Test Protocols

Phase 2, Draft 1: Test Protocols

The Phase 2 first draft test protocol began to address the "Outdoor Operational Test on Turf Grass," which integrates the soil sensor with an irrigation controller to measure irrigation adequacy and efficiency in a virtual landscape.

Phase 1, Drafts 1-4: Test Protocols for Indoor Lab Screening Tests

Key development of Phase 1 protocols took place in the first through fourth drafts. Phase 1 beta testing began at the fourth draft of the test protocols. The objective of Phase 1 lab tests is to evaluate how well current soil moisture sensor technology functions over a range of conditions that affect soil moisture, including soil type, temperature and salinity. Phase 1 Soil Moisture Sensor testing results do not measure the integration of a soil sensor with a controller to manage irrigation.